Mobile devices have become woven into the very fabric of our families’ daily lives. According to the 2012 Pew Internet and American Life Project study, 77% of children aged 12-17 now own a wireless phone, and the explosion of social networks, managing a family’s mobile activity is a challenge for any parent. Keeping track of family members and making sure they are safe is a major concern for parents. FamZee is an innovative solution from Tangoe, Inc. aiming to solve these challenges by providing parents advanced monitoring and notification capabilities to gain control over their family’s smart device usage and costs. FamZee helps keep mobile families safe, in-budget and under control.

FamZee is a solution that is comprised of a smartphone app that securely communicates with the FamZee.com website, where parents can manage and monitor the usage, location and activities of their family’s connected devices. FamZee is security tested on a daily basis by McAfee Secure.

Parents can simply login to set up rules, warnings and alerts to monitor devices. They will also be able to view reports or receive email alerts on the mobile activity of each user in the family. FamZee addresses three significant concerns of parents with respect to mobile technology:

Family Safety –Parents will have peace of mind knowing that their families are safe and have arrived at their destinations through FamZee’s location tracking and alerting capabilities. The FamZee Alert button will send an email alert to the user’s emergency distribution list including the location of the user. FamZee also stores family members’ vital medical information such as doctor’s contacts, prescription use and allergies should a medical situation occur.

Mobile Savings – FamZee allows the family to manage and control the data, voice and text messaging usage of their family’s devices and offers parents the ability to set limits for users and receive usage alerts. By clicking on the FamZee app, family members can view their mobile usage and know exactly where they are with respect to plan allowance limits. According to the FCC, one in six users fall victim to mobile bill shock and FamZee will help prevent this from occurring. Please note, SMS monitoring is not supported on iOS devices.

Parental Control – FamZee has multiple functions for aiding parents in supervising their family’s mobile devices, including location tracking, geo-fence alerts and device rules based on usage, location, and time. Parents will appreciate receiving alerts if their child is texting or browsing the web at school, instead of focusing in class. Parents can also set rules, like locking the device at night to ensure their children are not using their devices past bedtime.

“FamZee is a revolutionary tool for families to help manage their mobile lives,” said Daniel Rudich, senior vice president. “FamZee is an innovative and comprehensive solution delivering savings, safety and supervision for mobile devices. The functions are easy, intuitive and fun to use for both adults and children.”

“As a parent and caregiver, FamZee allows me to easily keep track of my loved ones’ mobile device activity and provides peace of mind knowing that my family is safe,” said Safety Mom Alison Rhodes, a family safety expert and author. “Whether it’s making sure my daughter is not texting at school, receiving an alert if there’s an emergency with my elderly parents or being sure that first responders have vital medical information if someone is hurt, FamZee is there to help.”

There will be two levels of FamZee services:

Free Service – All users will be able to use the FamZee app for personal usage management, basic location tracking and emergency alerting.

Premium Service – All users will receive a 30 day free trial of the FamZee premium features, including the ability to create an unlimited emergency distribution list, track the location history of each device, receive urgent email alerts for critical location, usage and time based events, as well as create parental control rules that lock the device. After the 30 day trial, users will either pay $0.99 per device per month to continue these premium features or simply utilize the free features.